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Coronavirus Briefs

Published:Monday | February 3, 2020 | 12:00 AM

More than 14,550 infected globally

A coronavirus outbreak that began in China late last year has infected more than 14,550 people globally.

Yesterday, China confirmed 14,380 cases on the mainland. In addition, Hong Kong has 14 cases and Macao has seven. Most of the 304 deaths have been in central Hubei province, where illnesses from the new type of coronavirus were first detected in December.

In addition, cases have been recorded in Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Australia, Germany, the United States, France, Vietnam, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Italy, Britain, Cambodia, Finland, India, Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sweden and Spain.

 

 

Philippines reports world’s 1st virus death outside China

The first death outside China from the new coronavirus was recorded Sunday in the Philippines, as countries around the world evacuated hundreds of their citizens from the infection zone and Chinese authorities completed a new, rapidly constructed 1,000-bed hospital for victims of the outbreak.

Chinese authorities also delayed the reopening of schools in the hardest-hit province and tightened the quarantine in one city by allowing only one family member to venture out to buy supplies.

The Philippine Health Department said a 44-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan, the city at the center of the crisis, was hospitalized Jan. 25 with a fever, cough and sore throat and died after developing severe pneumonia. The man’s 38-year-old female companion, also from Wuhan, tested positive for the virus as well and remained hospitalised in isolation in Manila.

 

 

China toll rises

The coronavirus official death toll in China climbed by to 304 yesterday, according to China’s National Health Commission and other nations. The vast majority of those infected are in China; about 150 cases have been reported in two dozen other countries. The US has recorded eight cases.

A hospital specially built to handle coronavirus patients in Wuhan is expected to open today, just 10 days after construction began. A second hospital is set to open soon after.

Also, six officials in the city of Huanggang, next to Wuhan in Hubei province, were fired over “poor performance” in handling the outbreak, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. It cited the mayor as saying the city’s “capabilities to treat the patients remained inadequate and there is a severe shortage in medical supplies such as protective suits and medical masks.”

 

 

Hong Kong union calls strike to demand China border closure

A union for Hong Kong hospital workers said its members will go on strike today to press a demand for the semi-autonomous Chinese territory to reject all travelers from the mainland in an effort to stem the spread of a new viral disease.

The Hospital Authority Employees Alliance, one of several groups that represent hospital employees, said that on Saturday, more than 9,000 of its members signed a pledge to join the five-day strike.

The announcement followed decisions by the United States, Japan, Australia and other governments to block or limit entry to travelers who have been to China in the past two weeks, which scientists say is the virus’s maximum incubation period.

A union statement demanded Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s government “forbid all travelers from entering Hong Kong via China”, stop non-emergency medical services and ensure hospital workers have enough masks and other supplies.

AP reports